Iconic chart-topping noughties band who won a staggering 14 awards in two years take to the stage in Milan during their hit international tour
An iconic chart-topping Noughties band, who won a staggering 14 awards in two years put on a very energetic display as they take to the stage in Milan.
Franz Ferdinand, who shot to fame in 2004 following the release of the track Take Me Out, is currently touring across 11 countries with 46 concerts.
The punk band, whose current members are Alex Kapranos, Audrey Tait, Miaoux Miaoux, Bob Hardy and Dino Bardot, has proved age has not slowed them down.
And they are touring the globe to celebrate their recent comeback as they released their first album in seven years last month; The Human Fear.
For the performance, they were seen expelling endless energy as they jumped up and down in the air and knee-slided across the stage.
In keeping with their signature suit ensembles, frontman Alex rocked out on his guitar while wearing a black two-piece suit and bright red socks.
An iconic chart-topping Noughties band, who won a staggering 14 awards in two years put on a very energetic display as they take to the stage in Milan
Franz Ferdinand, whose current members are Alex Kapranos (pictured), Audrey Tait, Julian Corrie, Bob Hardy and Dino Bardot, is currently touring across 11 countries with 46 concerts
He said of the latest album: ‘Making this record was one of the most life-affirming experiences I’ve had, but it’s called The Human Fear.
‘Fear reminds you that you’re alive. I think we all are addicted in some way to the buzz it can give us.
‘How we respond to it shows how we are human. So here’s a bunch of songs searching for the thrill of being human via fears. Not that you’d necessarily notice on first listen.’
The album is the first to feature drummer Andy and guitarist Dino and it saw Julian join Kapranos and Bob join in with songwriting.
Thee band’s first single was Darts Of Pleasure and just missed out on the TOP 40 of the UK Singles Chart.
It was when they released Take Me Out that they catapulted to fame and bagged 14 awards in just two years.
In 2004 they bagged the Nationwide Building Society Mercury Prize, MTV Video Music Awards for Breakthrough Video, NME Award for the Philip Hall Radar Award and Q Award for Best Video.
During this time were also nominated for 13 other awards including the UK Music Video Awards and the iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards.
The punk band shot to fame in 2004 following the release of the track Take Me Out but featured two different band members, Nick McCarthy (2002 – 2016) Paul Thomson (2001 – 2021) (Pictured L to R: Bob Hardy, Alex, Nick and Paul)
And they are touring the globe to celebrate their recent comeback as they released their first album in seven years last month; The Human Fear (pictured: Alex)
In 2005 they then bagged another nine awards including Pollstar Concert Industry Awards for Best New Touring Artist and Meteor Music Awards for Best Live Performance.
They were also nominated for another 13 awards in 2005.
And in 2006 they won an NME Award for Best British Band and were nominated for another 16 awards.
Following the release of Ulysses and No You Girls, they were nominated for another three awards in 2009.
The members of Franz Ferdinand were no strangers to the music scene before they became a household name of the noughties.
Throughout the 1990s, the band’s future members played in a variety of bands such as The Karelia, Yummy Fur, 10p Invaders, and Embryo.
It was at a party, however, that Alex and Paul Thompson, who was the band’s drummer between 2002 to 2021, formed the friendship that would later lay the foundation for the iconic band.
The duo played together in Yummy Fur, where they started crafting songs that would eventually take the world by storm.
Around the same time, Alex introduced his close friend Bob to the bass guitar after receiving the instrument as a gift from none other than Mick Cooke of Belle & Sebastian.
Alex’s musical circle further expanded when he met guitarist Nick McCarthy, who had returned to Scotland after studying jazz bass in Germany in 2001, setting the stage for the formation of the group.
Guitarist and keyboard player Nick was one of the founding members but said goodbye to the group in 2016.
The core members landed on Franz Ferdinand after a racehorse called Archduke Ferdinand.
After witnessing the horse’s victory at the Northumberland Plate in 2001, the band’s members found themselves reflecting on the historical figure, Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
They were struck not only by the alliterative power of his name but by the world-altering impact of his assassination, a key event in the lead-up to World War I.
In an interview, Bob admitted: ‘Mainly we just liked the way it sounded. We liked the alliteration.’
As part of their tour they will visit England for two dates. On March 5 and 6 they will perform at London’s O2 Sheperds Bush Empire (Pictured L-R: Dino, Julian , Alex, Audrey and Bob)
Alex echoed the sentiment, adding: ‘His life, or at least the ending of it, was the catalyst for the complete transformation of the world and that is what we want our music to be. But I don’t want to over-intellectualise the name thing. Basically, a name should just sound good… like music.’
Over the span of the 24-year journey they released studio albums Franz Ferdinand (2004), You Could Have It So Much Better (2005), Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (2009), Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action (2013), Always Ascending (2018) and The Human Fear (2025).
As part of their tour they will visit the UK for four dates. On March 5 and 6 they will perform at London’s O2 Sheperds Bush Empire.
On March 7 they will head up north to Glasgow and perform at the Barrowland Ballroom before they return once again on August, 13, to perform in Galvanizers Yard.
